some have used violence, and the chinese government tries to crush their movement. hui are loyal chinese and are found throughout china. they sak the dominantanguages of thelaces where they live. now we getnto the issue of race and ethnicity. many people, uh, believe that, uh, these are... this is a group of people that is really of han chinese race but islamic religion. the hui themselves don't see it that way. they see themselves as the descendants of the earliest muslims in china, who were arabs, persians, turks, some mongolian muslims and others. narrator: geographer chai yangwei grew up near here. he returned to china to attend beijinuniversity. day in lanzhou, he's back exploring hui culture in a wholesale market. spichas alwa been on of theost important prodts tradedt the maet. chaiangw meetseen on wi ma zhenan, a hui muslim. ma is a spice trader. manyf these spices were brought over the silk road from the west from as far away as the uighur autonomous region,r qingi. a han chinese couple come to purchase tea. it is of high quality, so they buy a whole box. (